Fair’s demolition derbies are driven to destruction
Bob Basile has a theory on why people enjoy a demolition derby.
“It’s fun to smash a car,” the 72-year-old Imperial Beach resident said. “My saying is, it’s the most fun you can have without getting arrested.”
Would you expect a different perspective from a man who signs his emails with the salutation “Racingly yours”?
For decades, Basile has worked to organize and run demolition derbies, giving him a front-row seat to both the crashing and the cheering.
He was born into that world. His father, Don, was a motorsports pioneer who popularized and promoted demolition derbies as far back as the 1940s.
The decades-old family tradition continues this year as Basile and his company, Sunnyside Promotions, stage the latest series of smash ‘em ups at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa.
Hordes of full-throated fans will pack the Action Sports Arena at the OC Fair & Event Center from Wednesday through Aug. 14 to watch as drivers deliver some good old-fashioned destruction.
But why would so many people turn out to watch these crash-and-bash affairs?
“How many people stop and watch a crash on the side of a freeway?” Basile said. “You can’t duplicate this anywhere. ... You can go out in the yard and play football, but you can’t go out in the yard and do a derby. It’s something that’s so unique.”
Like ‘several car accidents’
Driving in a demolition derby started as a “bucket list” item for Huntington Beach resident Tim Greenleaf.
Now, as he gears up for his third go-round at the OC Fair, it’s all about adrenaline.
“When you taxi into that place and there are however many thousand people there and they start counting down to the start … it’s a pretty good rush,” said Greenleaf, 38.
The surge of excitement can quickly end with a thud, however, when another driver plows into you.
Then it’s all about doing your best to stay in one piece.
“The adrenaline kind of carries you through the night afterward because you’re with your family, you’re having fun,” Greenleaf said. “The next morning, you definitely feel like you would if you were in several car accidents the night before.”
Silverado resident Windy Jones, who participates in and organizes Damsels of Destruction — the fair’s all-female demolition derby — also has become somewhat accustomed to the bumps and bruises.
“Every year I’m terrified of the first hit, and by the time the derby’s over, I wish I could find a way to do demolition derbies for a career,” she said. “Every year it’s terrifying and every year it’s the most fun day of my year.”
Preparing to get pummeled
You might not think it would take a lot of work to get a car ready to be crushed, but you’d be wrong.
Derby participants typically use old cars they pick up cheap or through donations. Cars usually have just one derby run in them.
Any driver who wants to be in the derby has to outfit his or her rig to meet stringent specifications, most of them aimed at helping participants stay safe.
Cars are largely stripped of upholstery and glass. Gas tanks and batteries have to be moved to the middle interior of the vehicle to better protect them from impacts. Additional padding has to be installed around the drivers.
Each car also has to have a fire extinguisher. As the entry and rules forms state, “Fire is always possible.”
Drivers must don safety equipment such as a helmet and eye protection.
Vehicles are thoroughly inspected before each derby to make sure they fit the specs and aren’t outfitted with anything that might give a driver an unfair advantage.
But getting a vehicle ready to rumble is one thing. Rules in the arena aren’t quite as stringent.
Sure, you’re not allowed to intentionally hit driver’s-side doors, strike another vehicle that’s pinned against a barrier or push a car across the arena.
Other than that? Well, as Basile said, “it gets crazy, so you do whatever you can.”
Drivers actually can be penalized for not hitting their fellow competitors enough.
“Every driver has to hit every two minutes,” Basile said. “That stops them from sandbagging and hiding out in a corner and waiting until the end.”
The typical derby strategy is for drivers to slam into one another in reverse so they protect their own front ends, where the engine, radiator and carburetor are.
The last car running wins.
Charitable causes
Though raising hell is the primary goal of any good demolition derby, some events at the OC Fair also seek to raise money for charitable causes.
Next Saturday there will be three events — a figure-eight race dubbed the Emergency Pursuit Derby, a demonstration from the Orange County Police Canine Assn. and a compact car demolition derby — that will raise money for the canine association and Project 999, which supports fallen peace officers and their families.
Friday’s Damsels of Destruction will raise funds to benefit the Susan G. Komen foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to battling breast cancer. During its four-year run, the event has raised more than $36,000 for Komen, Basile said.
The money raised, Jones said, “pales in comparison to providing people emotional support” and letting those fighting cancer know they’re not alone.
“We have days of whiplash and bruises, but you know, it all goes away,” she said. “And if I have a week of discomfort and it brings somebody some emotional support and comfort, it’s worth it.”
Not just cars
If the idea of cars smashing into one another doesn’t satisfy your appetite for destruction, there’s always Motor Home Madness — demolition derbies with RVs.
“Other people have done them, but they don’t quite get as destroyed as ours,” Basile said proudly. “It’s a mess.”
In the derby world, a mess is a good thing. A bigger mess? Even better.
At Southside Towing, a bustling tow yard in Orange, workers are busy making last-minute preparations for Motor Home Madness, which comes to the fair Thursday and Aug. 14.
Like their car counterparts, the RVs are heavily modified to meet derby standards.
The interior of the camper portion of each RV is largely gutted, with one notable exception.
“We leave all the cabinets inside,” said David Padua, president and owner of Southside Towing. “ We took all the cabinets out one year and it actually weakened the RVs and they just fell apart.”
Even with the structural integrity of the cabinets intact, the RVs likely will last only 20 to 25 minutes in the arena, Padua said.
Getting each one ready for prime time can take about 80 hours of work.
“It’s a lot of preparation for 20 minutes,” Padua said with a laugh. “But you read the reviews online, you hear people talking about it — that makes it all worthwhile.”
Some of the people who will jump behind the wheel of the soon-to-be-mangled machines are not the type you might expect to be involved in wanton destruction.
Costa Mesa Police Chief Rob Sharpnack and Fire Chief Dan Stefano, as well as Newport Beach Police Chief Jon Lewis, are expected to compete in Motor Home Madness on Thursday, according to Padua and a fair spokeswoman.
“It’s a good event,” Padua said. “It’s good for the public. It’s good for the departments.
“Plus, we have fun with it,” he said with a smile.
At the end of the day, that’s what derby organizers and participants say it’s all about: having a good time and putting on a good show.
“I’m going to try to set the bar out there as high as I can,” said Greenleaf, who is running in the Orange Crush Demolition Derby on Wednesday. “I’m out there to put on a show.”
It takes a few things to be a successful derby driver, Greenleaf said.
“You got skill, you got guts and you got luck,” he said. “And you need all three.”
From Jones’ perspective, “it definitely takes courage and conviction” to participate in a derby.
“And probably a little bit of insanity,” she added with a laugh.
IF YOU GO
Here’s the schedule for this year’s demolition derby series at the OC Fair & Event Center’s Action Sports Arena:
• Orange Crush Demolition Derby, 8 p.m. Wednesday
• Motor Home Madness, 8 p.m. Thursday
• Damsels of Destruction, 8 p.m. Friday
• Emergency Pursuit Derby, 1 p.m. Aug. 13
• Orange Crush Demolition Derby, 8 p.m. Aug. 13
• Motor Home Madness, 7 p.m. Aug. 14
The fairgrounds are at 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. For more information, visit
